On the First Day of Summer Dr. Richard Buckley Announces the Best-Kept-Secret Procedure to Treat Excessive Underarm Sweating (And It’s Better Than Botox)

Excessive underarm sweating can be embarrassing and unpredictable. The good news is that there is a laser treatment, called PrecisionTx, which is a one-time, outpatient, minimally invasive treatment that offers hyperhidrosis patients several benefits over commonly used Botox.

Many look forward to the blissful days of Summer, but those with a condition called hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, it can mean no relief from embarrassing underarm sweating and sweat marks on clothes. The good news, according to Dr. Richard Buckley, Medical Director at the cosmetic surgery practice in Milford, Penn., is that there is a laser treatment for excessive underarm sweating. It can be done during one’s lunch hour and, usually, one treatment is all that is needed for permanent results.

“When people suffer from the medical condition hyperhidrosis, they sweat a lot and unpredictably. They might be at rest or in a cool place, yet they sweat, regardless,” Dr. Buckley says. “The condition, which appears to be a result of overactive sweat glands, leads to physical and emotional discomfort.” Dr. Buckley says there are a few treatments that work for patients who can’t get relief from antiperspirants. One is the use of the widely used neurotoxin Botox, which chemically treats the condition by temporarily blocking secretion of the chemical that turns on the body’s sweat glands. The other option, and the one that Dr. Buckley says his patients prefer, is PrecisionTx, an Nd:YAG 1440 nm wavelength laser.

PrecisionTx is a multi-purpose laser system, which can also be used to effectively and minimally-invasively contour small areas, such as the jowls, jawline and neck. PrecisionTx treatments are minimally invasive and can be done in-office. “I prefer PrecisionTx for hyperhidrosis patients because it’s one treatment, and it’s done for the long term. It gets right there, where the glands are, and gets rid of the glands that are causing the excessive sweating,” he says. “It’s also very comfortable for patients. We numb the armpit, and then treat the area with the laser.”

Botox treatment for hyperhidrosis is temporary, just as the effects of Botox on the face are temporary. The treatment tends not to be as comfortable as with PrecisionTx because Botox requires that injectors use several pokes of a needle in the armpits. And it’s more expensive than the laser option, according to Dr. Buckley. “Then you have to repeat Botox in six months or so in order to continue to have the effect,” he says. “If you look at the cost of treating hyperhidrosis with neuromodulators, such as Botox, Xeomin or Dysport, over time, it’s quite high. Versus once with PrecisionTx.”